>>> PERSONAL
The Formula One paddock holds a
strange attraction. There’s the glamour,
the globe-trotting, the fast cars, the
beautiful women, the Michelin-star
food, the celebrities, the feeling of
exclusivity and the list goes on and on.
But if you want be a Formula One
journalist, tear that list up and instead
throw hard work, perseverance, a lot of
doubt and anxiety into the mix.
This is not my first time covering
Formula One. I covered a couple of races
in 2012 for a well-known news agency
that I work for. But this is the first time I
am doing it on my own and I’ve realized
just how hard you have to work before
you even make it into the paddock,
especially when you don’t have a major
name backing you.
I’ve always wanted to be involved
in Formula One, ever since I first fell in
love with the sport at the age of seven,
watching it on television with my father.
My dream initially, like all young boys,
was to become a driver. But after realizing
I was hopeless at karting I decided to
write about the sport instead.
So I got myself a journalism degree,
got sidetracked into a ‘proper job’
covering financial news that paid the bills
and the rent, and found myself clueless
as to how I could now make the switch to
covering Formula One.
Opportunity came knocking when the
motor racing correspondent of said news
agency offered me the chance to cover
the Malaysian Grand Prix last year. A
second opportunity came knocking when
said correspondent of said news agency
offered me the chance to cover a second
race, the Indian Grand Prix, last year.
I was obviously very grateful for the
chances I got as they allowed me to build
my motorsport file writing for a well-
known name, but having had a taste of
what I really wanted to do, I wanted more.
Two races seven months apart were
not enough and I knew if I had to gain any
credibility as a Formula One journalist, I
had to be ‘seen’ at a lot more races.
Covering more races for the news
agency was not an option as my primary
job there is covering business news, and
onceagainIwasatalossastohowI
could make it in... until veteran Formula
One journalist Joe Saward first put the
idea of going it alone in my head during
a conversation over the Indian Grand Prix
weekend.
A month of contemplation followed
during which I did a lot of thinking. There
were many things to consider, the
hardest of which was deciding to throw
away a job that paid me a decent wage
and exhaust my savings to travel the
world on my own dime while earning
absolutely nothing.
The next step was getting someone
to apply for accreditation on my behalf.
Formula One accreditation rules are very
strict and publications and websites have
to meet certain circulation, readership
and coverage criteria before they are
accepted.
I sent emails out to several websites -
from the biggies to ones that were still
establishing themselves in the hope
that someone would bite. I also dropped
emails to several Indian newspapers
and arranged meetings with sports
editors. My pitch to them was -- apply for
accreditation on my behalf and you’ll have
a reporter on site covering the race for
you for free.
I got several rejections as newspapers
and websites did not want to take a
chance on an unknown reporter and
pretty soon I found myself getting to the
bottom of the list of publications I had
decided to reach out to.
I thought my grand plans of making
it to the Formula One paddock were
grounded before they had even taken
off but words of encouragement from
journalists working within the Formula
One fraternity kept me going.
Eventually an Indian daily called
Mid-Day, known for its sports coverage,
decided to take a chance on me and I also
secured writing gigs with an Indian and
British website.
Now it was time to apply for
accreditation. Like I said, the FIA’s
accreditation rules are pretty strict and
the accreditation process can be quite
complicated if you’re doing it on your
own. There are several documents that
need to uploaded – like proof of the
paper’s coverage of Formula One, proof
of my coverage from the races I had done
earlier and application letters for the races
you are applying for – and getting all of
this paper work together is a real task.
Luckily, I had journalists from the
fraternity like Kate Walker and Alan
Baldwin help me with the accreditation
process, including putting my name
on the FIA media delegate’s radar, and
I realized that for all the stories about
Formula One being a piranha-club, F1
journalists are actually quite friendly and
more than willing to go out of their way to
help someone make their way in.
Next comes the hardest part – waiting.
You’re never quite sure if your application
is going to be accepted, especially if the
paper backing you isn’t that well known
in the F1 world and after a few anxious
emails to the FIA’s media delegate, I was
finally relieved to see that my application
had been approved. The whole process,
from deciding to take the plunge to my
application getting approved had taken
over three months.
A lot of running around getting all my
visa documents in order followed, until
finally I was walking through the paddock
gates on Thursday morning.
Strangely, there was no feeling of
satisfaction that I imagined there would
be, but instead there was a sense of the
daunting task that I now faced.
Making it through the paddock gates
is just the first step. I now have to fight
to prove that I can cut it with the best
motorsport journalists in the world, who
are all massively driven people, and it
will be many years of hard work, anxiety,
sleepless nights and pain before I do.
Bring it on.
You think it’s tough to get into F1 as a driver? Try joining the press corps! GPWEEK’s new signing Abhishek Takle
knows just what a challenge that can be ...
It's a hard road ... to the F1 Paddock
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